Amusements at Higashiyama in Kyoto

People from every social class appear in vignettes across this pair of screens: samurai serve as the central figures, accompanied by courtiers and court ladies, itinerant performers, and mendicant monks. Together, these citizens of Kyoto enjoy a sunny afternoon at the height of the cherry-blossom season. Each screen features one of the city’s celebrated sites: Kiyomizudera Temple in the right-hand screen, and Yasaka Shrine in the other.

In both scenes, elite samurai gather for festive banquets beneath the blossoms. The custom of eating and drinking outdoors during hanami (cherry-blossom viewing) spurred the creation of luxurious portable lacquer bento boxes and sake flasks, examples of which appear in the composition. On the right side of the right screen, a chef prepares sashimi, while a variety of ceramic vessels—including large celadon and blue-and-white wares—are carefully depicted, attesting to their use among high-ranking warriors.

Further comparative research remains to be carried out, however, in recent years scholars have suggested that this set of screens may have been created by artists active in the atelier of Kano Sadanobu (1597–1623), the only son of Mitsunobu and seventh head of the Kano house in Kyoto.